Ukrainian’s leading climate scientist to address conference in Dublin Castle

19 June 2023

Svitlana Krakovska, of the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute, will address the European Climate Change Adaptation (ECCA) Conference, hosted by University College Cork (UCC), in Dublin Castle at the opening ceremony on Tuesday (20 June). She is due to be accompanied by the Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland, Larysa Gerasko.

Dr Krakovska is expected to highlight the devastating impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam and consequent flooding, and the global implications of the war on countries’ ability to address climate change.

Later in the two-day conference Dr Krakovska will lead delegates in a session dedicated to  adaptation to climate change in Ukraine’s post-war recovery, to serve as a role model for other European communities, cities, and business in achieving climate-resilient development.

Ambassador Gerasko and other government officials in the Ukrainian delegation will be welcomed to Dublin by Lord Mayor Caroline Conroy at ECCA2023’s opening ceremony at Dublin City Hall on Monday evening.

The 6th European Climate Change Adaptation Conference, takes place in Dublin for the first time and runs from Monday, June 19th, to Wednesday, June 21st. It is being hosted by MaREI, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine at University College Cork (UCC).

More than 400 European politicians, leading scientists and climate action representatives, will attend to share state-of-the-art climate science and developments to help countries adapt to the changing climate. The latest State of the Climate in Europe Report will be launched at the conference on Monday by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

“This is the first time this European conference has been held in Ireland and it is important Ireland plays a leading role on this issue,” said Professor Brian Ó Gallachóir, Associate Vice-President for Sustainability at UCC and Director of UCC’s Environmental Research Institute. “We are honoured to host this important forum which brings together key scientists and policy makers from across Europe to examine what measures will have to be adopted to improve our resilience in a climate that is already changing and will be radically different."

Hans-Otto Pörtner, member of the  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) , Susanne Mecklenburg, Head of the European Space Agency (ESA) Climate Office and Dr John Bell, the ‘Healthy Planet’ Director at the European Commission will also address the conference.

Ireland’s Climate Youth Leader Oileán Carter Stritch and Frank McGovern, Chief Scientist at Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will also speak. Mr McGovern said: “We are delighted to bring ECCA2023 to Ireland for the first time, to inform and encourage climate adaptation action in Ireland and across Europe. We have an inspiring and diverse programme of state-of-the-art climate research, practical information on adaptation for climate policy and climate action practitioners and even arts performances.”

ECCA2023 is now fully booked for in-person attendees but the opening and closing sessions will be streamed live.

The conference is being organised by JPI Climate with the MAGICA project, hosted by UCC and sponsored by EPA, ESA, Dublin City Council, CARO and the Government of Ireland.

More about Svitlana Krakovska: 

Dr Krakovska is Head of the Applied Climatology Laboratory in the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute of the State Service of Emergencies of Ukraine and National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Head of the delegation of Ukraine to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2013. In February 202,1 by decree of the President of Ukraine, Dr Krakovska received The Order of Princess Olga, Third Class for her contribution to scientific activities in Antarctica, marking the 25th anniversary of the Ukrainian Antarctic Station "Akademik Vernadsky". She is experienced in the processing Regional Climate Models and General Circulation Models for the whole of Ukraine and its specific regions (natural reserves, river basins, administrative regions, etc.) for recent and future climate changes based on the multi-model ensemble approach; in verification and bias correction of climate model results; and in calculation and analysis of specific climate characteristics (indices) for application to different sectors (energy, water resources, tourism, agriculture, biodiversity, forest vulnerability, risk of wildfire, etc.).

More about ECCA2023, the programme and speakers: 

This will be the 6th ECCA Conference and it is organised by Joint Programme Initiative "Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe" (JPI Climate), together with the MAGICA project, supported by the European Commission. The audience will be able to hear from Europe’s leading climate researchers who are using trusted data to develop cutting-edge climate action tools, decision-support platforms and prototype climate services for adapting to the climate challenges they are tasked with addressing. Besides necessary mitigation measures, adaptation actions contribute to recovery, resilience, climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation and restoration, citizen safety, wellbeing and financial security.

Follow ECCA news on social media posts using #ECCA2023

Explore the photo galleries from:

-ECCA2023 Monday 19 June, 2023 here.

-ECCA2023 Tuesday 20 June, 2023 here.

-ECCA2023 Wednesday 21 June, 2023 here.

-ECCA2023 Extra photos (side events, creative arts, presentations, workshops, etc.) here.